Nami and Usopp take a break from the Straw Hat Crew to hand out drinks on a balmy San Diego day for us Comic Con attendees.

Afterwards they were doing a little outside party thing where they were giving out Shonen Jump-themed beverages and free t-shirts. The line was long for the t-shirts (not surprising as they were being screenprinted on site). It was a 2 hour wait but it was well worth it because we got to have some interesting conversations with the people around us. It also allowed us the chance to get the last stamp on our scavenger hunt.

After spending a good amount of time outside, we decided that it was time for air-conditioned sit down time and made good use of the random tables in the registration area.

We decided at that point that we were going to go to different panels. I decided to head over to Gays in Comics XXVI.

Every year Prism Comics puts together a panel about what it’s like for the LGBT community working in both the comic industry and the entertainment industry. It was interesting to hear some

Superman, Supergirl (deceased) and Sir Not Appearing in This Comic (but if you know, tell me) from Crisis on Infitnite Earths storyline

of the things that are going on and getting to hear about some of the LGBT comics out there. I still keep holding out for more bisexual comics. I have a feeling that’s going to take some time to happen. (Unless there’s some manga-style illustrators out there reading this blog, because I have a story…).

It was pretty cool to hear about some of the stories that are out there. It’s pretty amazing. It was also pretty cool to hear how much respect they had for each other.

There’s also the jokes and anecdotes that made the panel more interesting. In many ways it reminded me of the Black Panel.

I was in that panel for a hour when it became obvious that it was going to run over (which was not a problem as it was the last panel in that room). I jogged all the way over to a panel I thoroughly enjoyed last year, The Best and Worst Manga of 2013.

I love this panel.

I do. I have gotten so many wonderful suggestions on manga to read from it… and this year was no

The Gaslamp from the Geek and Sundry Prom

exception. I got to hear a lot of titles that I hadn’t heard of before like Kitaro, Wandering Son, Children of the Sea, etc. etc. They also mentioned manga that I had been reading/heard about like: Attack on Titan, Silver Spoon, Blue Exorcist, After-School Charisma, Bleach, Vagabond, Ooku, etc. etc. It was quite the list and there are so many that I really want to pick up now. The last thing I need is more manga to buy (but will probably do so anyways).

If any of you out there are interested in what their suggestions were for the last year, I happen to have them all in photos. So, let me know. I can always just post the list in picture form.

And that was our last panel for the night. It was a bit difficult to leave the panel as it was about the same time that the Masquerade started. It’s a popular event, but I have yet to actually watch one (and I’m not great enough at costuming that I can

Awesome couple that I met at the Geek and Sundry prom… and quite possibly the best Link and Zelda costumes I’ve seen.

participate). It made it a bit slow-go to get out of the building for the night.

Once we were out we headed out to dinner, followed by the Geek and Sundry Prom event.

Then event itself was pretty neat. There was DJ.ed music, a working bar (that was slammed the entire time we were there), photo booth style prom pictures, board and video gaming and an awesome chill space.

It was pretty awesome to get to hang out with some of the cosplayers… especially the best Link and Zelda duo I’ve seen all con. They were so incredibly friendly and we had a great conversation. It was a lot of fun to get to be out for a bit… even for my incredibly introverted self.